AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
199 
MECHANICAL PREPARATION OE THE SOIL. 
NO. V—DRAINING. 
[Continued from page 126.] 
We have now entered upon the most difficult 
part of our subject. There is a great variety of 
methods which may be adopted in removing ex¬ 
cess of moisture from land, no one of which 
would be everywhere applicable, and yet each of 
which may be best adapted to some particular lo¬ 
cality or circumstances. (We shall defer all re¬ 
marks upon the general laying out of drains, or 
their location, till we have described the different 
methods of constructing the drains themselves.) 
The principal kinds of drains are ridge land 
drains—open ditches , including sheep drains—bog 
drains—well drains—wood drains—stone drains — 
and tile drains Each of these classes of drains are 
constructed with various modifications. We 
shall describe briefly each of these different meth¬ 
ods, dwelling more particularly upon stone and 
tile drains, which are more generally applicable, 
and are the most important. 
RIDGE LANDS. 
Ever since the invention of furrow-turning 
plows, it has been customary with many farmers 
to plow wet ground in ridges, four to eight paces 
in width, turning two furrows upon a third un¬ 
broken one in the centre of the land, and the re¬ 
maining furrows against these, so as leave a wide 
double furrow—called a dead furrow—between 
each of the lands. The after action of the harrow 
depresses the highest part of the ridge a little, 
and leaves a regularly inclined surface on each 
side, from the centre of the ridge to the dead- 
furrows. After the sowing of the crops is com¬ 
pleted, the dead-furrows are cleaned out by run¬ 
ning a plow, with either a single or double share, 
through them ; and across these are cut deep 
furrows through the lower parts of the field to 
some convenient outlet. A spade or hoe is finally 
used to clean out the intersections of the furrows 
where they have been filled up in crossing each 
other; also, to remove any lumps of earth or 
stones that have fallen back after the passage of 
the cleaning plow, and to deepen any parts of the 
furrows where it may be necessary. 
This kind of draining, where improved modes 
have not been adopted, is almost universal; though 
we have visited many farms where even this 
simplest of all methods of draining is not prac¬ 
ticed. The chief recommendations of this plan 
of removing surplus water are : its simplicity, its 
cheapness, and its partial good results ; and we 
strongly recommend its continuance where bet¬ 
ter methods cannot, or will not be put in practice. 
Most farmers, we believe, alternately change the 
position of the ridges and furrows ; that is, at ev¬ 
ery new crop, they turn the ridge furrows into 
the former dead-furrows, and leave the dead-fur- 
rows in place of the former ridges. This may do 
where there is but little wetness of soil and a 
comparatively porous subsoil ; but our own expe¬ 
rience has convinced us, that where only one 
plowing is given for each crop, and where the 
soil is pretty wet, it is better to keep the ridges in 
the same place for a number of years; and when 
the alteration is made, to give two plowings in 
the same direction, so as to make new ridges as 
high as possible. We have often avoided a sec¬ 
ond plowing, or a cross-plowing, rather than to 
' injure our well-formed ridges. 
The manifest benefits arising from this imper¬ 
fect mode of getting rid of water are strong evi¬ 
dence in favor of a more thorough system of 
draining. Upon the center of the ridges, where 
water quickly flows off, the wheat, clover, or oth¬ 
er crop stand thick and heavy, while it gradual¬ 
ly decreases in quantity towards the furrows, and 
near them the crop is very small, and often is en¬ 
tirely killed out. We think most observing per¬ 
sons will agree with us that on wet ground, so 
ridged, three-fourths of the yield is obtained from 
the one-third, or, at most, from the one-half of 
the field embracing the ridges ; and that the crop 
would have been nearly doubled for the same la¬ 
bor, had all parts been equally dry. 
There are several objections to this method. 
It impoverishes the land. The rain falling upon it 
flows over the surface into the shallow drains, 
and carries into the ditches the more valuable so¬ 
luble portions of the soil, and of the manures ap¬ 
plied, and none of the benefits before enumerat¬ 
ed, of having the rain.readily sink down through 
the land, will be derived from this mode. The 
draining is superficial. The dead-furrows are ne¬ 
cessarily shallow, and can only remove the wa¬ 
ter from a small depth of the surface soil. The 
subsoil is not benefited by freeing it from water 
and allowing the air to enter, and, as a conse¬ 
quence, poisonous substances are not removed ; 
deep-rooted plants will not penetrate downward, 
and their healthy, thrifty growth will not be long 
continued. 
To these objections may also be added the un¬ 
evenness produced in fields so treated ; the diffi¬ 
culty of cross-plowing, and of using reaping and 
mowing machines; the liability of the furrows to 
be filled up by the washing in of soil, &c. But with 
all these objections, we believe, on the principle 
that “ half a loaf is better than no loaf,” this 
mode of draining is worthy of even a wider appli¬ 
cation than it now has, and that many farmers 
may improve their present practice, by making 
narrower ridge-lands ; by changing the position of 
the ridges less frequently ; and by greater care in 
cleaning out the dead furrows, and in securing 
good outlets for the water that accumulates in 
them. During the past Spring, we visited sever¬ 
al farms where the dead furrows on many parts 
of the field were full of standing water, with no 
sufficient outlet, and on this account nearly all 
the lower ground was flooded with water from 
the higher portions. 
OPEN DRAINS. 
Another method is often practiced upon mead¬ 
ow and bog lands, and often upon arable lands, 
viz.: to cut permanent deep open ditches at wide 
intervals. There are some of the same objec¬ 
tions to these as to those last described. They 
are continually filling up; they occupy much room 
that might be profitably cultivated; their banks 
are harbors for weeds ; they prevent the free 
passage, in all directions, of the plow and cart; 
they only drain the surface ; they are cut through 
the valleys, and do not intercept the water oozing 
out from the strata or beds on the hill-sides ; and 
if placed sufficiently near each other to drain the 
intervening portions of soil, they will, in the long 
run, require more expense to keep them well 
open, than would be needed to fill them with stone 
or tile at first, and cover them up out of the way. 
There are, however, instances where they may 
be advantageously used, as for example, where no 
materials for filling them are at hand, and also 
where it is necessary first to dry the land before 
a more thorough system of draining can be pros¬ 
ecuted. The chief care necessary in their con¬ 
struction is, to give them a sufficient fall towards 
a good outlet, and to make them sufficiently nu¬ 
merous to accomplish the object aimed at, wheth¬ 
er it be a partial or thorough drying of the land. 
If the soil is very porous, it is sometimes advan¬ 
tageous to throw the earth out upon each bank, 
so as to prevent the water from flowing readily 
over the surface into them. The water sink¬ 
ing through the soil into them is thus deprived of 
some of the soluble ingredients held in solution, 
and these are stored in the banks of the drain. 
We have known two instances where the soil of 
the banks of these ditches became so enriched 
by this process, that it was found profitable to cart 
out large quantities of it upon poor land. 
A SIMPLE LEVEL INSTRUMENT. 
We will here describe a very simple instrument, 
which we have used in the absence of a better 
one, for ascertaining the water level, and the ne¬ 
cessary inclination and depth of drains, in order 
to have them carry the water off from a particu¬ 
lar field, or through a little elevation of ground. It 
consisted of a board 16 inches wide and 4 feet 
long, planed perfectly level and true, and well 
varnished. This and a pitcher of water con¬ 
stituted our whole leveling apparatus. When 
wishing to know the comparative level of two 
places, we selected the supposed higher spot, and 
by pouring water upon the center of the board, 
placed near the ground, we could easily bring it 
to a level, that is so that the water poured upon 
the middle appeared inclined to flow equally in ev¬ 
ery direction. A man was sent to the lower spot 
with a stick which he set upright in the ground, 
and upon which he placed his finger, or a piece of 
white paper. Sighting carefully along the surface 
of our leveled board, we could by a motion of the 
hand up or down cause our assistant to raise or 
lower his finger or the paper, till it was brought 
to a level with the surface of our board. The 
distance between the finger or paper on the stick 
and the ground would of course give the differ¬ 
ence in level of the ground at the two points, and 
the necessary increased depth of ditch required to 
give a good current to the water. By moving the 
stick to different parts of the field, the deviations 
of its surface from a water level, can by this 
means be very readily learned. Placing the lev¬ 
eling board upon a little elevation in the centre of 
the field or elsewhere, we can make observations 
upon the whole field from one position, taking 
care to always deduct the hight of the board 
from the ground from the hight observed upon 
the measuring stick, or if the hight of the board 
is greater than that upon the measuring stick, the 
excess of this hight will show by so much a low¬ 
er spot where the board is placed. With this ap¬ 
paratus—so simple as to be at the command of 
any one—we have been able to make very accu¬ 
rate observations, and those sufficiently so for all 
ordinary purposes of draining. It is necessary to 
varnish or paint the board when it is used for 
more than one observation, or the water will soon 
swell and warp it. An instrument equally simple, 
and perhaps more convenient, is the common 
spirit level used by builders. The larger the in¬ 
strument the more accurate will be observations 
made with it. A very good one, with but one 
spirit glass, can be purchased for a dollar or 
less. The professional drainer or engineer 
will of course provide himself with more accurate 
and more costly instruments ; but the farmer who 
lays out his own drains will find the above de¬ 
scribed levels sufficiently accurate for all ordinary 
operations. 
Diogenes being asked of what beast the bite 
was most dangerous, answered: “ Of wild beasts, 
that of a slanderer ; of tame, that of a flatterer.” 
Can you teach the bee to build a cell, or the 
bird a better nest ! They teach us, however, 
wisdom by modest and silent examples. 
One of the boys tells of a scarecrow made by 
Uncle Ben. It not only scared off every crow 
that saw it, but one crow was so frightened that 
he brought back the corn he stole three days be¬ 
fore. 
